Progress at the Janice Mason Art Museum on Main Street is moving steadily forward. At the April 6, 2006 meeting of the Board of Directors, some of the latest improvements were proudly displayed.

Concentrating on the cellar of the old post office, Secretary Paul Fourshee discussed some of the newest additions, including, to the delight of the entire board, overhead fluorescent lighting. Large appliances such as a modern water heater and furnace were in the process of being discretely concealed behind a wall. Fourshee planned to paint most of the walls and floors within the next week.

A highlight of the ongoing renovation of the old Main Street Post Office would be the spacious former coal storage room, which will soon be dedicated to pottery. The facility now owns two clay baking ovens, called kilns, a new unit, and an older one which was contributed to promote the Museum’s mission of not only displaying, but educating the community on creating art of their own. Other trappings of pottery were seen as well, with clay, glazes, wheels and paints available for classes and aspiring artists.

Fourshee did not have exact fundraising figures to date, but said, “We’re making these improvements primarily with funding from membership fees and private donations. Work is done as money becomes available. ”

The owner of Fourshee Building Supply, he does a lot of the work himself. “The greatest expense is labor, so I do a lot of the work myself, and with the help of volunteers.”

Future plans outlined for the museum included demolishing some interior walls to make for larger classrooms in the basement. Currently, many of the classrooms are small, with room for only a small group of students at one time.

Having provided shelves and cubbyholes, the supply room is complete, and stocked with some of the accoutrements of art.

For the rest of this article, please see this week's edition of The Cadiz Record.